Curious
by Airanke
Summary: This is what she got for lying to her general. Masamune x Kasuga; one-shot.


Ahh my first MasaKasu. So be... nice. Actually, don't critique me. Lols. I kinda' wrote this for VVolf; I think this is... like, the most in character I've ever written Masamune HAHAHAHA. And Kasuga. Holy crap I really need to practice writing these characters in character. And I mean like, all of the Basara cast.

So hard to get it right sometimes T_T

Yeah. Masamune x Kasuga. It's kinda' silly. And I forgot the name of the mountain Masamune and Yukimura fought on, and I couldn't be bothered to find out. I was lazy. Deal with it *angry face* XD

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After Kenshin's duel with the Tiger of Kai had been interrupted, a certain blonde haired kunoichi was curious as to what had happened up on the mountain that had been so dramatic. She remembered that Kenshin had mentioned "meeting with a young tiger"; perhaps the subordinate of the Tiger of Kai had been involved?

Kasuga flipped a long blonde strand over her shoulder. Regardless of whether or not someone from Takeda's army had been involved, she was curious. She stood now at the top of the mountain, where a battle had obviously taken place. There were burn marks on the ground, hoof prints on both sides of where she stood. She looked to her left, then her right. To her right there were hoof marks, not too old, that led away into the woods. And to her left the hoof marks went back the way they had come.

_'Kai no Tora's army is in that direction,'_ Kasuga's eyes returned to the right, _'but in that direction... in that direction I know there's a cluster of cherry blossom trees...'_ her brow furrowed and she quickly dashed off into the woods, gliding easily between the trees. She followed the hoof marks in the small path; judging by the amount of prints clustered together, an army had passed by here.

The trees passed by in a blur as Kasuga leapt from branch to branch, thoughtlessly following the trail. She couldn't quite understand why she had taken such an interest in whoever else had been on the mountain aside from her lord's squad and someone from the Tiger of Kai's squad. She shook her head from side to side, then gasped as another lord entered her thoughts.

"The Dokuganryuu?" she muttered quietly, stopping at a tree to catch her breath. The cluster wasn't much farther from where she was resting. She'd told Kenshin she would be gone scouting for a while, so he wasn't expecting her back anytime soon. She continued on in the direction of the cherry blossom tree cluster. Perhaps she could get a better look at this "dokuganryuu"; he had been flanking her squad earlier that day, after all.

_'Ah! The trees!'_ Kasuga dashed behind one of them, carefully peeking around the trunk. She could hear the laughter of men – loud and boisterous – and under the laughter the soft whinnies of horses. She furrowed her brows, concentrating on the different sounds she heard.

_'Laughter... horses... the wind... a bird in the tree above... softer voices... talking? Who's talking? Someone nearby!'_ glancing around once more to make sure there were no scouts, Kasuga leapt into the tree she was hiding behind. Being above the ground gave her a good vantage point, but her tree was too far away from the noise. She had to get closer to the noise.

_'I better be careful... I've heard things about the Dokuganryuu... and his tactician,'_ she swallowed lightly, quickly scampering across the branches of her tree. She was thankful that the trees were clustered so closely together; it was easier to move from tree to tree. The soft talking was getting louder – there were only two voices, and one voice laughed. Kasuga huffed.

_'Seems like they aren't expecting anyone,'_ she remained hidden in the trees. She was close enough to the two voices now that she could hear clearly what they were saying.

"Will you come back down with me, Masamune-sama?"

"Nah, Kojyuro. I think I'll stay up here for a while. 'Sides," Kasuga listened carefully to the sound of rustling cloth, "I'm feelin' a little tipsy."

"You were never that good with sake, Masamune-sama."

"Shut up, Kojyuro!"

Kojyuro laughed; Kasuga was finding it difficult to stay still on the branch she'd perched on. Someone stood and Kasuga watched as a tall, well-built man started walking down the hill. He turned his head sharply suddenly and Kasuga suppressed a gasp, quickly flipping up further into the tree. Her heart was pounding in her chest; had he seen her?

"What is it, Kojyuro?"

_'So Kojyuro is the one wearing brown... he's quite the aggressive character...'_ she held her long blonde strands in one hand to prevent them from hanging down as she leaned forward to peer through the pink petals, _'thank god these petals are thick.'_

Kojyuro was still looking at the tree she was in, his sharp eyes honed in on exactly where she was. She held her breath.

"Nothing, Masamune-sama. My eyes are playing tricks on me."

"Hah! You old man."

Kojyuro smiled at Masamune, whom Kasuga guessed was lying under the large tree ahead, and continued on his way down the hill. Kasuga shifted and was about to get down when a man in a dark blue overcoat walked around the tree. Kasuga froze as he approached, a slight bounce in his step.

_'This is... he is... Masamune?! The Dokuganryuu?!'_ of course there was no mistaking that the man was him; he _was_ wearing an eye patch over his right eye.

_'I'd expected him to be older!'_

He stopped right under the tree she was in, looking up at her, a cocky smirk on his lips.

"Ah, so there _is_ someone here. What 'cha doin' up there, shinobi?"

Kasuga's cheeks flushed. It was pointless for her to stay hidden on her branch if Masamune knew she was there. She dropped down to a large branch just below the thick canopy of petals.

"You aren't spying on me, are you?"

"N-no, I was just curious of the participants in the battle on the mountain," she replied. She didn't need the inconvenience of him thinking she was here to assassinate him. She furrowed her brows at him while demanding, "anyway, how did you know I was here?"

"Huh? Kojyuro was lying, you see?" he grinned, "maybe he thinks I didn't notice, but he's been by my side for years. Of course I know what kind of expression he makes when he's lying!" Masamune then lowered his head and muttered something that Kasuga didn't quite catch. She tensed on her branch.

_'He doesn't have his weaponry with him... best to be careful. He might be more dangerous without his swords.'_

He raised his head again, the look in his eye making her jerk back. He pressed his palms against the trunk of the tree.

"You gonna' come down or..." blue streaks of lightning crackled at his fingertips, burning the wood a bit, "do I have to cut down this tree?"

Without thinking Kasuga jumped off her branch, landing softly behind Masamune. He leaned back against her, which in turn made her push back against him.

"You...!"

"I what?" he had turned around and the sensation of his breath flitting over her neck made Kasuga lurch forward and spin. She backed up against the large tree Masamune had originally been sitting in front of, breathing rapidly. He quirked his eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, cocking his head to the side.

"You seem nervous, shinobi."

"Anyone would be nervous, Dokuganryuu."

"Aw, that's not fair! You know who I am," he squinted his eye. Kasuga blinked at him.

"Of course. You... are quite well-known in Japan. And by Kenshin-sama," she bit her lip at her mistake, _'damn it!'_

"Kenshin...? Ah! Uesegi! You're his shinobi?"

"Ah, hai! But I came here of my own will..." she quickly added, afraid he would become hostile towards her. Masamune uncrossed his arms and stalked towards her, stopping three feet away and planting his hands on his hips.

"So, you ditched your general and came lookin' for me?"

"N-not exactly," she hissed, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. Masamune smirked; he deliberately blew a breath at her. She could smell sake.

"Then what excuse did you come up with for leaving, shinobi? You don't really seem like the type to just run off without telling your general, you see?"

Kasuga humphed at him and turned her head to the side, letting her arms hang down by her sides. She felt like her hair was being caressed and when she looked back at Masamune she was startled to see that he had one of her strands of blonde hair between his fingers. He appeared to be examining it.

"Oi, oi, oi! How can you be a shinobi with this hair?"

Kasuga felt her neck heat with rage. How dare he question her ability!

"I'm not one who hangs upside-down, Dokuganryuu!"

Masamune pouted and opened his hand as if to release her hair. His eye widened briefly, as if he had just noticed something, and he closed his fingers around her hair again. She glanced at his hand, noticing for the first time how big it was. She jumped when his other hand was placed against the tree trunk, next to her head then scowled, upset at herself for not noticing that he had moved slightly closer.

"You never told me your name. It's not fair that you know who I am and I have no idea who the hell you are."

Kasuga hesitated, _'should I tell him? I bet he'll get upset if I don't... I've already let Kenshin-sama's name slip past my lips... it will only be a matter of time before I let my own name slip out as well.'_

She sighed lightly before telling him, "Kasuga."

"Kasuga?" he dragged out the sound of the vowels in her name. This irritated her.

"Just how old are you?!"

"Old enough. You know, black isn't the best color to wear in a bunch of brightly colored sakura trees. That's how I saw you in the first place, you see?"

"It's not like I had time to change!" she exclaimed, searching for a way to slip past him. There was no telling what might happen since he was tipsy.

"So, what excuse did you give, Kasuga?" he pressed, staring her down with his blue eye. His eye reminded her of Kenshin's eyes, though Masamune's eye was darker, more feline looking. More _blue_.

"... I told him I was going to scout," she admitted, still distracted by his blue eye.

"Haah? You lied to your own general? How terrible of you, Ka-su-ga," the way he sounded out her name made her flush. She didn't like that very much.

"You shouldn't lie to your own general."

Kasuga didn't understand why she closed her eyes. There was a rough feeling on her lips; Masamune moved closer. The metal plate he wore on his chest was pressed lightly against the bare skin of hers, and she shuddered. His armor was cold.

She raised one of her hands hesitantly, touching his cheek with one finger before shakily pressing her hand to his face. Her fingertips brushed against his hairline.

_'... wh-what am I doing?!'_ Kasuga demanded of herself, her eyes shooting open. She pressed both of her hands to Masamune's shoulders and shoved him back, cheeks bright red. He gazed at her wonderingly before smirking. As he moved back he crossed his arms over his chest, licking his lips.

"You should run along now, before I change my mind and kidnap you."

Kasuga glared at him, her blush deepening and raced off back in the direction she had come. She didn't stop running until a tree root she didn't notice tripped her. Before she hit the ground face first Kasuga managed to right herself. She landed on her knees and stayed sitting on the ground like that.

_'It's no use resisting... I just have to...'_ she pursed her lips before licking them.

They tasted sweet, like sake.

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Hope you liked it!


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